Movie News

'American Sniper': Is Clint Eastwood the Right Director to Replace Steven Spielberg?

He may be 83 and inclined toward talking to invisible people, but Clint Eastwood keeps adding more projects to his plate. He's already directing the upcoming Jersey Boys movie, but now TwitchFilm.com reports he's circling American Sniper, the high-profile Bradley Cooper film to which Steven Spielberg was initially attached.

American Sniper tells the story of Chris Kyle (Cooper), the real life Navy SEAL sharpshooter who recorded more confirmed kills during his tours of duty in Iraq than any previous sniper in U.S. history. Iraqi insurgents dubbed him "The Devil of Ramadi," and he was awarded the bronze and silver star multiple times. After being honorably discharged in 2009, he wrote American Sniper, an autobiography that became a New York Times bestseller. However, in February of 2013 he was allegedly murdered by a fellow former soldier on a Texas gun range.

Though it would have been an exciting new challenge for Spielberg, whose recent work has consisted largely of period pieces, Eastwood may really be the better choice. Anyone who's seen The Outlaw Josey Wales or Letters from Iwo Jima knows that the former Dirty Harry understands how to film a shootout. He also has an affinity for military culture, as demonstrated by Heartbreak Ridge, and can balance action with a gritty portrait of homefront life. And along with Jersey Boys, it could also be a much-needed palate cleanser for his Q&A with Invisible Obama at the RNC and, perhaps an even worse sin, his unwatchable turn in Trouble With the Curve.